430W doubling in cost?

"John T." writes:

Remember that there are likely additional charges to the $1495. A
new antenna to receive the WAAS and possibly a new RF antenna cable
with lower loss will need to be installed.

Indeed. My local avionics shop estimated more like $4000 for the
whole deal.

Much new hardware inside (for whatever that is worth)
Addition of a decent terrain warning map

(That was already available for about 1 AMU as a separate upgrade for
430/530's.)

Much faster updates to track (maybe 5 Hz)
This last one might be of use in IMC with gyro problems.

Dunno. Digital numbers won't be readable at 5 changes per second.
Analog outputs are basically just CDI/VDI's, whose super-rapid updates
may help only during the tail end of an approach.

- FChE

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:16:54 -0400, Frank Ch. Eigler wrote:


Indeed. My local avionics shop estimated more like $4000 for the whole
deal.

I was just quoted an expected maximum of $2500 (including the $1500 to
Garmin) per radio from my local shop.

[...]
Addition of a
decent terrain warning map

That same shop told me that terrain is *not* a part of the W upgrade,
though still remains an available add-on.

Much faster updates to track (maybe 5 Hz) This last one might be of use
in IMC with gyro problems.

Dunno. Digital numbers won't be readable at 5 changes per second.
Analog outputs are basically just CDI/VDI's, whose super-rapid updates
may help only during the tail end of an approach.

I think, if one is using track as a replacement for a failed DG for
example, that 5 updates a second would be quite manageable. A second
is a long time, in that sense. Say "Mississippi", for example, while
tapping your finger five times. Once you get the rhythm, it's not tough.
But I've not tried actually reading a display like this.

Also, consider that if you're spinning so fast that the ones digit is
illegible, you can still see the direction of your spin with the tens
digit. That's enough to slow the turn so as to render the ones digit
usable again (plus provide for some other benefits {8^).

- Andrew

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:53:43 -0000, bdl
wrote:

Anybody heard this from another avionics shop, or is this just a
Cincinnati Avionics thing?

" Schedule your WAAS upgrade now!
Save $1495.00"

"Effective September 1st the WAAS Upgrade price will increase from
$1500.00 to $2995.00, therefore schedule your WAAS upgrade by August
31st to be completed before May 31, 2008 and save $1495.00."


We have a 430, but not the WAAS upgrade. We were tabling the issue of
upgrading, since we don't fly enough approaches to justify the
additional cost.

Garmin announced this via a dealer bulletin a while back.

I traded in my non WAAS 530 for a new 530W, and installed a new 430 W as
well for around $11,000, including the new antennas and cabling, along with
the installation and annunciator.

The upgrade for a 430 may not be as valuable as for a 530, since the screen
is so much smaller, and there is less information available. Flying an
approach with a single unit, it would not be practical to switch from the
map page to the terrain page and back. The situational awareness from the
530 is far superior.

However, flying the GPS approaches when coupled to an autopilot are a dream-
smooth, and with no hunting like on an ILS. This would be the case with
either unit.

From the SA perspective alone, upgrading the 430 may not be cost effective,
especially with a single unit installation.